This application is a Continuation Application under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(b) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/898,197, filed on Jul. 22, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,761, hereby incorporated by reference.
This invention relates to a camera control apparatus and method and, more particularly to a camera control apparatus and method for remote-controlling a camera via a network.
A camera control system for controlling a camera (e.g., panning, tilting and zooming of the camera) from a remote place is widely known.
In this system, even though camera control is performed via a network, a device for camera control and a client device do not depend on common specification but on unique specifications (e.g., protocol and control information).
However, in recent years, the Internet has been becoming popular with rapidity, and there is an increasing need from end users to see video images sensed by a camera at a remote place via the Internet.
One means to meet this requirement is to periodically store a video image sensed by a camera, in a file, into a storage device of a server connected to the camera, and transfer the file to a terminal (client) that has accessed the server. On the end-user side, a browser, for example, is activated so as to display the video image.
However, this merely displays the video image as sensed, but cannot meet requirements to see, e.g., the image in a view a little shifted to either side, the image in a wider view, or the image expanded within the view.
The conventional camera remote-control technique is based on particular specification, which cannot be applied to use on the Internet.